Author: rpnadmin

Politics / December 19, 2025 The initial chaos of layoffs has been followed by a concerted effort by the Trump administration to halt the enforcement of the Fair Housing Act. Ad Policy The Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) headquarters in Washington, DC.(Stefani Reynolds / Bloomberg via Getty Images) Kenneth Hansbrough’s problems began with a key fob. Hansbrough, who uses a wheelchair due to a spinal cord disease and is legally blind, moved into a low-income apartment in St Louis, Missouri, three years ago. If Hansbrough falls, his son, who lives nearby, can help him, so he gave his…

A protester holds a sign related to the release of the Jeffrey Epstein case files outside the U.S. Capitol in Washington, D.C., on Nov. 12. Saul Loeb/AFP via Getty Images hide caption toggle caption Saul Loeb/AFP via Getty Images By law, the Justice Department has until Friday to release files related to the life and death of Jeffrey Epstein. Under the Epstein Files Transparency Act signed by President Trump last month, the attorney general is directed to “make publicly available in a searchable and downloadable format all unclassified records, documents, communications, and investigative materials in the possession of the Department…

Comment / December 17, 2025 The passage of the Epstein Files Transparency Act is a big step—but its champions are keeping the pressure on. Ad Policy (Matt McClain / The Washington Post via Getty Images) This article appears in the January 2026 issue, with the headline “Accountability Now.” “The survivors won!” announced representative Ro Khanna (D-CA) after he and Thomas Massie (R-KY)—with a late assist from Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-GA)—secured a remarkable 427–1 vote in the House of Representatives for their Epstein Files Transparency Act. The November 18 vote was immediately followed by unanimous approval in the Senate, in a…

In recent elections, some Latino voters are shifting away from the Republican Party. Those votes helped flip seats in Virginia and could be an important factor in next year’s midterm elections. MARY LOUISE KELLY, HOST: Governor-elect Abigail Spanberger is not the only Democrat who flipped a seat in Virginia’s elections this year. Democrats also won in other local elections, including by big margins in areas with significant numbers of Latino voters. Now, that’s a big change from the 2024 presidential election, when those same parts of Virginia shifted slightly toward Republicans. Margaret Barthel of member station WAMU reports on what’s…

Feature / December 17, 2025 Trump has made Los Angeles a testing ground for military intervention on our streets. Mayor Karen Bass says her city has become an example for how to fight back. Illustration by Lily Qian. This article is part of a special Nation package devoted to LA’s bold stand against the Trump administration’s assaults on the city. This article appears in the January 2026 issue, with the headline “Mayor of LA to America: ‘Beware!’” Calamity has dogged the political career of Karen Bass since her years in the California State Assembly. In 2008, she became the first Black woman to head the…

TikTok company offices in Culver City, Calif. on Sept. 30, 2025. A deal to sell the American part of the company to a group of U.S. investors was signed on Dec. 18. Patrick T. Fallon/AFP via Getty Images hide caption toggle caption Patrick T. Fallon/AFP via Getty Images TikTok has signed a deal to spin-off its U.S. operations to a group controlled by mostly American investors, including software giant Oracle, a company run by Trump ally Larry Ellison. The now-inked agreement is set to close on Jan. 22, according to a memo TikTok CEO Shou Chew sent to employees on…

Over the past year you’ve read Nation writers like Elie Mystal, Kaveh Akbar, John Nichols, Joan Walsh, Bryce Covert, Dave Zirin, Jeet Heer, Michael T. Klare, Katha Pollitt, Amy Littlefield, Gregg Gonsalves, and Sasha Abramsky take on the Trump family’s corruption, set the record straight about Robert F. Kennedy Jr.’s catastrophic Make America Healthy Again movement, survey the fallout and human cost of the DOGE wrecking ball, anticipate the Supreme Court’s dangerous antidemocratic rulings, and amplify successful tactics of resistance on the streets and in Congress. We publish these stories because when members of our communities are being abducted, household…

Good morning. You’re reading the Up First newsletter. Subscribe here to get it delivered to your inbox, and listen to the Up First podcast for all the news you need to start your day. Today’s top stories President Trump insisted that the U.S. is poised for an economic boom during a prime-time address to the nation yesterday. He said that high prices are decreasing and attributed many of the country’s problems to his predecessors and immigrants. This message comes as Trump’s rating on the economy is historically low, and high prices remain a top concern, according to the latest NPR/PBS News/Marist poll. President Trump…

Politics / December 18, 2025 In an exclusive interview with The Nation, the mayor-elect goes behind the scenes of his meeting with the president and talks about some of his political heroes. Ad Policy Zohran Mamdani speaks to members of the media on December 17, 2025.(Spencer Platt / Getty Images) Zohran Mamdani won’t become New York City’s mayor until January 1, but there is already immense pressure on him to achieve great things. Yet the 34-year-old democratic socialist, who will be the city’s youngest mayor since Hugh John Grant served in the late 19th century, shows few signs of being…

Liz Goggin (left), a licensed clinical social worker, and Mahri Stainnak both served in the federal government for more than a decade. In 2025, Goggin quit her job, while Stainnak was fired. Maansi Srivastava and Tristan Spinski for NPR hide caption toggle caption Maansi Srivastava and Tristan Spinski for NPR Liz Goggin recently had an encounter that reminded her of why she once cherished being a federal employee. She had taken her kids out for ice cream and stopped to chat with a man who was blowing balloons and selling them for a couple of bucks. She quickly learned he…